After a three-day delay, the UFC 99 fight-day installment of the Dana White Video Blog was finally uploaded to youtube.com/ufc, and the massive two-parter feels like any other classicdouble-album — sure, it would have been "better" if it were edited down to a single video, but then you wouldn’t get the scope of the Danavlog’s ambition. In the first, more boring half (shown above), Dana roams the streets of Cologne, taking a lot of pictures with fans and getting a taste of the Germans’ particular brand of crazy. (See: short-shorts guy at 0:04, crazy dog man at 1:10-1:28, and blue afro lady at 4:57.) He also spends time explaining how this whole UFC thing works to curious German camera crews, winding his way through an endless receiving line at the arena, and congratulating Stefan Struve, who’s still sore about that Dos Santos fight. Anyway, you don’t need to watch it unless you’re a Danavlog completist, but the backstage action picks up in part two…

Any and all Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an Athletic Commission shall be conducted pursuant to the statutes, rules and regulations of the State of Nevada in effect at the time of the Bout, including, but not limited to, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (the “Nevada Rules”); for the protection of the health and safety of the Fighter, to promote fairness in the administration of the Bout, and to preserve the integrity of the sport of mixed martial arts. In its sole discretion, ZUFFA may utilize the Nevada Rules in the oversight of any Bouts that occur under this Subsection 4.7. Fighter may appeal any advisory opinion by ZUFFA regarding any violations of the Nevada Rules relating only to Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an official government mandated Athletic Commission to an independent third-party arbitrator or arbitration panel selected pursuant to the guidelines developed by the American Arbitration Association. All costs and fees associated with an appeal taken pursuant to this Section shall be the exclusive responsibility of the Fighter. Regardless of where a Bout occurs, in no event shall a Fighter have any right to appeal a decision by ZUFFA relating to the UFC Title or the UFC Championship belts.

("I’M THE KING OF THE MIDDLE OF THE UFC WELTERWEIGHT LADDER!!! WHOO-HOOOOOO!!!"Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

So how did everybody do with their UFC 99 picks? Did anyone beat our own Ben Fowlkes’s score of 23 points? BF’s picks were straight nasty, with five of the main card fights predicted perfectly. Lucky for you he’s ineligible for the DVDs. BG took in a far less impressive 15 points, and fully admits that picking Saunders over Swick was based on emotion, which is poison in the world of the pick-off. People, you must have ice-water in your balls if you hope to win this contest.

If you did well in round 1, let us know your score in the comments section below so we can keep an eye on the front-runners. Of course, even if you struck out with your UFC 99 predictions, there’s still a chance you can win the first "Machida-Do Karate for Mixed Martial Arts" set that we’re giving away — all you have to do is run the tables this Saturday with your TUF 9 finale picks. Speaking of which…

(The optimist sees this as a wave ‘hello.’ The pessimist sees it as a wave ‘goodbye.’)

Well, the UFC made it through their first German event without anyone dying or even getting seriously injured. That ought to shut up the German newspapers, although Cro Cop’s Three Stooges eye-poke against Mostapha Al-Turk didn’t exactly help. Now it’s time we sort through the winners and losers from this weekend and see who’s up and who’s down.Rich Franklin +97It wasn’t a dominant victory, but a win is still a win. He picked Silva apart pretty well until a couple hooks wobbled him and sent him into retreat mode. Even so, he fought smart and did just enough down the stretch. Now let’s see him against one of the young up-and-comers in the 205-pound class and find out if he’s got any real bang left in him.

Wanderlei Silva +10He showed that he can still take a shot as well as he can give one, and that’s enough to overshadow the latest loss tacked on to his record. That said, he needs to go win a fight as a middleweight if he wants to stick around.Cain Velasquez +86So he has a chin to go along with that ground game. He also has an ADD-style ground-and-pound game that never stops, though it also never stays with one approach long enough to finish. Before we decide that he lacks power, though, let’s remind ourselves that Kongo couldn’t even stand up after the third round. Now who’s got next?

Dana White’s over-the-phone verbal contract with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic prior to UFC 99 was the first time he’d done a deal with a fighter without getting it in writing, or negotiating in person. We’re guessing it’ll also be his last. The big scandal coming out of Germany after yesterday’s show is the surprise news that Cro Cop had already signed a new three-fight deal with DREAM by the time he stepped into the Octagon against Mostapha Al Turk (video above). Though Cro Cop had previously told White that he wanted to officially sign for two more fights in the UFC and make a run for the heavyweight title, the truth came out following Mirko’s TKO victory via eye-pokes. As you can imagine, DW was seeing red in the post-show press-conference:

With UFC 99 now just a couple hours away (don’t forget to join us for a little afternoon liveblogging) we get a glimpse of some of Dana White’s latest antics in the Vaterland. He kicks a little knowledge on German history, is entranced by a sausage, and raps with his fighters a bit just to see how everyone’s family is doing. Notice the difference in attitude between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis near the end there. Seems like "The Outlaw" may have just realized that he’s talked himself into a beating, while Davis sounds like he is in the beginning stages of a premeditated murder. This ought to be fun to watch. Part two is after the jump.

Just a friendly reminder to those of you who have yet to enter your UFC 99 picks in this forum thread, you only have until midnight PST tonight (Friday, 6/12) to get them in. You know you want to see what Lyoto Machida’s “Karate for MMA” DVD set is all about, while also establishing your dominance as the MMA prognosticator of all prognosticators. This is the best chance to do both at once. Take our word for it, nothing impresses the ladies like bringing them back to your place, popping in a Machida instructional DVD, and telling them how you won this puppy free of charge thanks to the power of your brain. It helps if the ladies are very drunk and not listening to you at all during this.

After the jump, check out our UFC 99 picks and be amazed. Or just mock us in the comments section. Either way.